Patriots receiver Julian Edelman set to return vs. Kansas City
The New England Patriots’ offense could get a big boost on Saturday, as receiver Julian Edelman is set to make his return from a broken foot.
Edelman suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot early in the Patriots’ game against the New York Giants on Nov. 15. It is the same injury that sidelined the Dallas Cowboys’ Dez Bryant for several weeks earlier in the season. Edelman underwent surgery the next day, with a screw inserted into the affected bone.
Though he returned to practice on Dec. 11, Edelman has not returned to game play.
He told reporters on Monday that he’ll be going full-speed on Saturday, as New England hosts the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round, while recognizing that his approach isn’t always best.
“I’m kind of my worst enemy when it comes to that. I try to push things,” Edelman said. “We’ve had our staff work with me to keep me from hurting myself. I think we’ve handled it pretty decent…I want to go full throttle regardless.”
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As important as tight end Rob Gronkowski is to the Patriots, Edelman may be just as important, at least if the offense’s numbers without him over the last six games of the season are to be believed.
According to statistics compiled by NFL Network researcher Evan Lazar, the Patriots and Tom Brady were quite different in the games Edelman could not play:
Lazar found that with Edelman, New England converted 50 percent of its third-down opportunities, while without him, that mark fell to 33.9 percent. The offense averaged 6.8 yards per play with Edelman to just 4.7 yards without, and Brady’s 69 percent completion mark and 111.0 passer rating with Edelman went down significantly without him, to 59.5 percent and 94.0, respectively.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that Brady and Edelman spent extra time together on the field last week, working to regain their timing after Edelman’s long layoff.
